THE STAR OP THE NORTH.
!• V. Weaver, Preprleter.]
VOLUME 8. f/o.^
THE STAR OF THE NORTH
IS PUBLISHED EVERT WEDNESDAY MORNING BT
K. XV. WKAVKR,
OFFICE— Up itairs, in the new brick build
ing, on Ikt touth tide of Main Street,
third tfuare below Market.
TERMS :—Two Dollars per annum, if
paid within six months from the lime of sob
scribing ; two dollars and fifty cents if not
paid within the year. No subscription re
ceived for a less period than six months ; no
discontinuance permitted until all arrearagea
are paid, unless at the option of the editor.
ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding onesqoare
will be inserted three limes foi One Dollar
aod twenty five cents for eaob additional in
sertion. A liberal discount will be made lo
those who advertise by the year.
more scholars can be instructed by one
teacher—their instruction ean be more .thor
ough—they ran receive more lessons and
longer ones thtn when all stodiea are pro
miscuously pursued—and where all in a
school are nearly in the same degree of ad
vancement, no lesson to or from one class is
lost upon any oihr member of the school.
For in a graded school, no scholar is so tar
ahead or behind, that the slaps of his or her
mind cannot be followed and improved by
others. Every exercise is comprehended by
all, either as an incentive to inspire progress,
or st a review to impress indelibly and re
vive, with new associations arid new illus
trations, what oibers have already learned.
We are wonl to sty that an eVsnly bal
anced mind it the perfection of humsu na
ture ; and civilization is mainly bsneficial
because it list this tendency lo equalize and
balance tempera and passions ; so that minds
march on will, even s'ep in their progress,
and each aids ibe other by check or spar. It
is this even tread and discipline of a firm
rank, that makes en army stronger than il*
numbers would be in disorder; and il is ihi*
grading of the departments of manual labor,
that gives lo th* hand and eye thai wonder
ful proficiency sod skill, which etrika us as
lira perfection of human art.
Bui the teacher gain* as much as the
seholar, and n the same way. If he is re
quired lo leach from llie alphabet lo meta
pbysics, he nnisi teach in superficial manner
and milter. His lessons mutt be only reci
tations from ths dull, dry text of the book,
and cannot be full or impressive illustrations
from the living inspiration of '.he subject.—
Aod euch tasks will weary snd repulse the
young learner, rather than attraot and in- 1
timet by the pleasant sympathy of mind,
for which the tender intellect ha* yearnings.
Both the selfishness of man in art, and the
proficiency of the learned in science, have
pioved that there must be concentration of
mind and hand to one point and or.e object,
tn order to gain the highest success. Thai
''a rolling stone gathers no most" was known
beioretba English language was spoken,and
if we ask any man to do every thing, we
moat not complain if he does nothing well.
For the art of the teacher, like that of the
sculptor, long and oft repeated effort is neces
sary to aocoess—and this mutt be long and
dilligent attention 10 each detailed part o r the
work. The more narrow we make the range
or grade of thia practice, the o'tener will the
process be repeated, and therefore the fatter
will go on the lesson of experience.
A teaoher to imprese instruction must not
only understand the aubject of hia lesson, but
he must be familiar with ita connections,
end mast be able to preaant it with such va
rious illustrations ai will associate ard link
tt with something that is already fast in ev
ery mind of the date. And at no two taatea
ere pleased with the same rose, so no idea
ef illustration will strike two minds in the
same manner; and certainly will not in the
same way impress a whole cleat. There is
need of variety in this art, as much st in ths
face and form, or in the foliage, tinge and
perfume of varisgated nature, to please as
many varioas tastes and senses. But whether
we seek directness or diffiiseness for impres
sions on e class, the teacher must be able to
eooeeetiete his attention, in order to apply it
irilb practical force.
In the oennty where I labor there were no
J. - graded schools thtaa years ago. In the first
year of the Co. Supsrintecdency they were
graded In one district, and last year in the
sit towns. They worked with such success
tbst tba publio schools, last winter, superse
ded every private institution of learning, ex
eeot one seminary and one primary sobool.
la towns it ia not very difficult to establish
graded sohodls, frr the advantages can be
easily mads apparent. Three grades ere
perhaps most desirable, but two will answer
every good purpose; and where two are
well established, lbs third will follow as
aeon as it will become necessary. In the
I lower grade or primary tcboola the teacher
can find tisae for Orthography, Beading, Wri
. ting from copy end from dictation, Oral Arith-
I niello, Written Arithmetic commenced, and
i Physical Geography. In tome instances
j oilier branches may be added. Music, as it
' enlivens the mind, egtreiaes the lungs, and
perifiet the heart, cannot be introduced 100
early; and as the ear is mstora and suscepti
ble of instruction earlier than the reasoning
faeotliea, music can be learned by ita natu
ral organ long before a complicated problem
In geometry ean be solved. In all tbe ex
act lent schools ol Prussia music is introduced
very early. Prof. Stowe, of Ohio, in J836,
visited England, Pre not, Prussia and tbe dif
farent Stales of Getaueny on aa educational
teatef observation, and he footid music ev
erywhare in tbe achoola, both as an alem*nl
of i;tstfaction, discipline and refinement. He
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY. PA., WEDNESDY. NOVEMBER 5, 1856.
visited the school for the reformation of
yonthfol offenders, at Berlin, and foond the
boya titling at a long table, making clothes
for the establishment and tinging at their
work. .The Superintendent remarked that
music was among the moet efficacious in
struments which he employed for softening
the hardened heart and bringing the vioioua '
| and stubborn will to docility.
Pbysioal Geography can be taught vary
early ; far so far as it is learned by the eye.
it can be learned at seven ss well at at sev
enty. Abstract memory is the (acuity which
most aids the learner in lhi bihncb, and
memory is the earliest and most simple of
the mental developments. j
, rtinro' rrlmarr cahoots that
arSrtlto haTakra* 10
chinery or anatomy of sentence* and lan
guage.
But while thi* is the proper view of opri
mary school, it unfortunately happens that
in some districts we find nofte even thus far
advanced; and there, much remains to be
dona before tba effort lo grade, or before
there can be any other than the lowest
grade.
In sparsely settled dietricie il is very diffi
cult to grade the schools, even where the
scholars are divided in their advancement;
for even now, when we have tliern all of the
same grade, many difficulties and embar
rassments arise from the distance which fam
ilies reside from their school house. They
can not generally be induced lo send schol
nrs past the nearest school house lo the re
mote ond of the district, even if il was lo a
school of advanced grade
Whatever we might desire, it is well to
confine ourselves to practical possibilities ;
and perhaps it is best to grade the schools
first in lowoa; next to introduce the plan in
to thickly settled regions of country; and
then to secure good advanced teachers for
winter tohools in thinly settled territories,
and good female teachers for primary sum
mer schools, in such places. <
For in such winters as the last, it is really
impossible for many of the younger scholars
io thinly settled districte lo attend school,
with that regularity which ia necessary for
progress and success. Many have two miles
to travel, and soma still further, and when
the snow is everywhere four feel deen—*t
some places drilled into miniature moun
tains—and the thermometer at gl •''pje—
below zero, we sanest expect the jotmgand
delicate.to attend school with punctuality.
Good primary schools in summer, by female
teachers, are in such places the best alterna
tive ; and in this way we secure a winter
te.rm of three months and a summer term of
the same length, where otherwise we could
not secure more than four months winter
schohl lor the whole year.
Yin school* of the second grade, there
should be taught Civil and commercial Ge
ography, especially of thi* Republic, Gram
mar, Elocution, Rbatorio, Hiaiory, Arithme
tic advanced, Physical Philosophy, Geome
try and Astronemy. These will in most dis
tricts be tbe tipper grade schools. Where
there are three grides, the highest mathe
matics, Chemistry, Scientific Agriculture,
Phisiolngy, English, Classical Literature,
Mental Philosophy, and in tome cases Latin,
should form the third grade By the highest
mat hem at ice I mean here the science of
numbers, quantities and apace, applied to
such practical arts of life as Book-keeping,
Building, Mining, Surveying. Navigation and
Civil Engineering; somewhat after the man
ner of the Polytechnic schools of France and
Germany, or the useful Polytechnic College
at Philadelphia.
In '.lns age and country we should particu
larly aid the education of labor, or perhaps I
should say, the lightening of labor by educa
tion. For ws have much work to do in tbia
wide spread republic of magnificent raonri
tains and plain*; and education here ought
to be of a direct practical and utilitarian
character, rather than speculative or meta
physical. hardly yet take lime or
turn our tastes to the cobweb abstraction*
of the German Gymnasia and Universities.
But more especially ought that free educa
tion, which our government furnishes lo ev
ery poor man's child of the Commonwealth
from a public treasury, lo be of a oseful and
practical kind. Even in the olden tima and
iu Greece, of all times nnd places,
philosophy was most valued for itself alone,
ons of tbe wisest of the sages remarked, that
boys should first learn those things which
they ought to know when they came to be
men. And if the science of bnsy life are
once well taught in our common schools, we
may be assured there wilt grow np from that
genial toil, the institutions which will leach
what our German brethren call the refining
hnminitie*.
Bui 1 would by no moon* have any one
•chotai, in eiibar of (he two latter grades of
schools, pursue all the branches I have
named for lham: at least not unless be has
more time than in this busy age generally
falls to the scholar's lot. No person ean
leant every thing; and one of the great ob
jects for grading schools is to avoid su
perficial study, and to make education
through by malting it direct and pointed—to
increase mental power by concentrating it,
just as we inersaae light and beat by concen
trating the rays. The taate and future pur
pose of the scholar ought to guide, in the se
lection of the branches he will study, and
tba time he will give to each oue which he
Utkea up. To the one Hiatory will prove of
comparatively little edrantage or pleasure,
and be finda bis interest atul enjoyment ir.
Physiology or Scientific Agriculture. An
other gives himself op to belle* lel'res, and
eschews both the physical ecienoes and
mathemaiics, except as ancillary and inci
dental to his main purpose. A third boilds
op a oseful active life or a logical and me
thodical mind upon mathemaiics, until they
please him as much as they profit; and he
is as happy a* if he oould read an epic
poem with zest and understand what it
proved.
But if the scholar cannot learn all branches
of one grade, how much less can the teacher
instruct in every branch of every grade; and
thus we come to out point of starting.
In conclusion, a word as lo the grades of
lary grade is found in. every district or com
mune, for the whole mass oi the population.
The indispensable branches taught in these
are Religion, Arithmetic, Singing, Reading,
Writing, Gymnastic exercises; and, in the
large elementary schools, there are langht
in addition to these the Grammar of the Ger
man language, the elements of Geometry
aod drawing, the elements of Physic (nearly
what we call Natural Philosophy) Geogra
phy, Prussian History and simple manual la
bot and agriculture. In the schools for girls,
female works ere added, sewing, knitting
and so on.
The middle schools are the second grada
tion. They are formed only in lowrt, not
io the country. The branches tsoght in
them are fUligion and moarals, Reading, the
German languaee, the German class lot, com
position and style, Foreign Modern language
Latin as much ss is needed to exercise the
faculties and judgment, the elements of
Mathematics, practical Arithmetic, Natural
Philosophy to explain the phenomena of na
ture, Chemistry, Natural History, Geography,
the use of the Globes, Astronomy, History,
especially of Prussia, Drawing, Ornamental
writing, Singing, and Gymnastic exercises.
' Small towns do not have these schools.—
The law demsnds * middle school for a town
of 150(TTr, habitants, but iodulgence is shown
suCTTsrhall place as have already good schools
of the first gradation. All towns of 3,000 in
habitants have one or inore SBWrtrule
schools. The children enter the schools ol
advanced grades, not' according to their age
bqt their knowledge; and this must always
be the rule, if graded schools are to be sue
eeufe.'.
1 he American Flug.
The flag of ocr country is a banner of
beauty, and opened to the breeze it always
inspires a descendant of Revolutionary an
cestry, with patriotic devotion to Liberty. It
is a banner, too, that all political parties rally
round.during tbeir contests, and consequently
tbeir numbers is considerably augmented,
during Presidentisl canvasses. As these flags
often present an ill shape, we gfve the fol
lowing description ol the American flag in
all its proportions, adding that when one is
made larger or smaller the same relative
proportion of sizes should be observed :
The standard for the Army is fixed at six
feet and six inches by four feet and four
inches—the number of stripes (representing
the slates originally constituting tbe Union)
is thineen, viz : seven red and six white. It
will be perceived that the flag is just one
half longer than it is broad and that its pro
portions are perfect when properly carried
out—the first stripe at the top is red, the
next white, and so down alternately, which
make* the last stripe red. The blue "field"
for tbe stars is the width and rqnare of tbe
first seven stripes, vix: four red and three
white—these seven stripee extend from the
side of the "field" to tbe extremity of the
flag—the next stripe is white, extending the
eniire length of it, end dirnoity under the field,
wbieh serves to "throw it out" in strong and
pleasing relief—then follow-the remaining
stripes alternately. The number of stars m
the field, now thirty one, represent the pres
ent nnmber of states in the Union—and the
Army and Navy immediately add another
alar on the admission of a New State inte
I onr glorious Union ; but used in an ordinary
way, tbe number ef Mara ie net essential—
thirteen (the original number) twenty.five or
thirty will answer.
The Leopard's Attack.
The power of a leopard it wonderful in
pioponion to bis wsighl. I have ssen a full
grown bullock with bis neck broken by the
leopard thst attacked it. It is lbs popular
belief that the effect is prodnced by a blow
of lbs paw. This is not the case. Few
leopards rush boldly to tbe attack, like a dog.
They stalk their game, aod advance crouch
ingly, making use of every object that will
afford tbem cover,until they are within a few
bounds of their prey. Then the immense
power of tbe muscle is displayed in the con
centrated energy of the spring. He flies
through tbe air aod settles on the throat, esu
ally throwing bis owu body over the animal,
while bis teeth and olaws are fixed on the
neck ; this is the manner in which the spine
of the animal is broken, by a sudden twist
and not by a blow. Tbe blow from the paw
ia, nevertheless, immensely powerful, and
one stroke will rip open a bullock like a
koife, but the effects of tbe wound are atill
more to be dreaded than the force of the blow.
There is a peculiar poison in the olaw, which
ia highly dangerous. This is oaused by tbe
putrid flesh which they are constantly tear
ing, end whiob is apt to oanse gangrene by
inoculation.— Buktr'e H'anderingt in Ceylon
Truth lit Right ■ ■ eir COM try >
THE WHITE RUSE.
" Now, please tell us Uncle Lewis, about
Ih* white rose. When the firework* made
such a noise, Friday afternoon, thai wecoold
not talk any longer under tbe grape arbor,
you promised to tell n* that story, as soon as
yoo came up lb* river again. What was it
ancle! Did it really happen! I* its true
story 1"
"Set yonr little chair* here in front of me,
children, and you shall have your coveted
story. Fred, my little nephew, do you know
the great while houae in front of the hill,
where the cross roads meet, with maple aod
butternut trees in front, and th* large poplar
*s lhaseeih aMeef M, snd tha great pear
IMdMHTESMkra.''
ON, M*tt, AN a Ms*'trory • ft is true !
I knew Ibdi uldpfseeju.t <• well "
A aire, bass yotl igot your chair fixed to
soit where you can hear tbe story, every
word. Because when I once begin 'the rose
story,'yoo will be so engagrd with it that
you will feel unwilling to more until it it all
over, and you will want to see my face, and
my lips, while I tell it, too. Now it you are
ready, I will begin.
" When I was abnut eight years old, I went
lo school every day but Sunday, right past
that house."
" But uncle Lewis, was it you that got the
rose 1" asked Anne, moving her chair near
er.
"It was nncle Lewi* himself, dear niece,
that had ih* most to do with it. Aod may
you never do aa he did, nor feel as be fel' as
long as yon live."
" The bouse stands near the fence, as yon
know, Fred. Well kg the cpuer of tbe liitle
front yerd, neereat the boose, grew the white
rose-bush. 1 bad seen it two or three years,
peihapa longer, and every year it grew more
handsome. We hadn't any whi<* rotes in
my father's garden, at home. Oh! bow much
I wanted s whits rose'for my own. 1 never
had one. I felt ahamed to go and ask, be
cause I was not much acquainted with our
neighbors who lived there. They knew me
very well, and I know would have given me
a rose or a handful of roses from tbe buab,
that very bush, if I bad asked in a proper and
modest way."
" What did you do, uncle 1"
"Alter several days' longing and wishing
| that I had one, and thinking about it, I de
i termined to take one!"
"What! steal it! why, I wouldn't have
thought of such a thing!"
" No, my dear t#"*. I t'rf jre* svoaM
not, and God grant that you may never be
tempted, or yield as I did."
"It came a bright morning. My little
brother Henry was going to school with me
It was his first summer at school, ar.d he was
about louror five years old. When wecime
rear the house we saw the beautiful roses.
How very beautiful! Thsy were almost tbe
handsomest sight my eyes ever saw ; I re
membei it now. I told Henry to walk along
over the hill, because I did not wish acy one
lo see me lake the rose. He went on out of
sight.
" I climbed the fence, and walked Rlong
on the rail to which the pickets were nailed,
till I reached the bush. I caught the stem of
a large while one, and started to go back a
long tha rail, pulling it off as I went. It was
in my hand as 1 jumped to the ground and I
ran lo overtake Henry.
" Where did yon get thai file asked.
want on* too." I felt so badly, I must tell
him a lie, or own that I had stolen il, or go
back and ask one for him, or give him mine.
What should Ido t I let him smell it first,
and then carry it. We went on. The fur
ther we went the worse I felt. 'Thief I'
'thief!' 'thief!' the bird* seemed to be raying.
And the leaves rustled the same thief! thief!
thief!
j "Ah I Fred, I thought of my achool tela
' tress, how badly she would feel ; I thought
' of all the neighbors, aod of all tbe scholars,
| as if they would know it; aod of my dear,
| dear psrents. How maan, how bad, hew
; ashamed and guilty I felt."
| " Did you oarry it back, ancle Lewis?"
I asked Anne, "and tell lira. Hand you were
| sorry."
| "No my dearr.ieoe, 1 wasn't brave enough
to do that, end it was neacMhool limp-be
sides.
" The rose now, aa my stolen property,
seemed hateful. I could not bear to look at
it, for it reminded me of what 1 bad done. I
thought it a witness against K. It tells lbs
story to a very one that tees it. It must be
put out of the way.be hid, so that it shall
never be seen again. Ah! my nephew,since
I have grown older, I csn understand bow
the robber becomes the murderer, as he thinks
'dead men tell no islet.' Remember the
Lord's prayer, how it says, 'Lead us not into
tsmplatiri"
" What did you do with the poor rose,"
exolaimed bath obildren.
" I buried it deep ia the ground. By the
side of the turnpike there was s swamp. Wa
boys want barefoot in the pleasant June da* t,
and I rolled up tbe legs of my pantaloons,
walked into a miry place, and with my foot
right upon the rose, pushed it down as deep
as 1 could among tbe the mire and stamped
upon it.
" But my precious ones, I think of that rose
yet, often. Never theil 1 forget what I felt as
a thief, when I buried that white rose."—
lndeftnd*nt.
IV A teamster on the road to Bear River,
California, seeing a man limp along iha road
before him kindly took him upon hie wagon.
A short time alter, the wretch drew a pistol
and robbed hi* benefactor of MS, and then,
unharnessing one of his horses, mounted and
rode it ewsy !
Thankagtvlag la Peuaeylvaala.
Govrroor Pollock has issued the following
proclamation, recommending a day of thanks
giviag io Pennsylvania.
PBOCLAMXTIOH.
Ptnnoflvania, tt:
In the name and by the authority of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, JAMES POL-
I.OCE, Governor.
Fellow Cilltens: —A poblie acknowledg
ment or the goodness of Almighty God, and
of okr constant dependence upon bis Provi
dence, is eminently becoming a free aod en
ligklened people.
At the "Giver of every good and perfect
gift, He has crowned tbe past year with hia
goodness, and caused our paths to flrop with
fatness," ear (sea issthations, our rights and
privileges, civil and religious, have been con
tinued and preserved. Science and Art, with
tbe great interests of'educaiion, morality and
religion, have been enennraged and advan
ced; industry in all its departments, has been
honored and rewarded, and tbe general con
dition of the people improved.
Our Commonwealth has been gretily biass
ed. The ravage* of disease and death—nl
lamina and pestilence, have not been per.
mined lo come near as ; nor have ths horrors
of wsr disturbed the peaceful quiet of our
homes. The earth has yielded her increase
and richly rewarded the labor of the hus
bandman. Abundant prosperity, with smiling
plenty and tbe blessings of health, have been
oura. Acknowledging, with gratitude, thete
blessings of a kind Providence, let at "enter
into His gates with thanksgiving, and unto
His courts with praise ; be thankful unto
Him, and bless his name."
Deeply impressed with the importance and
propriety of this duly, and in accordance with
the wishes of many good citizens, I, James
Pollock, Governor of tbe Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, do hereby recommend Thurs
day, the 20th day of November next, as a day
of General Thankegiving and Praise through -
ont this State; and earnestly implore the peo
ple, that, abstaining from all worldly busi
ness and parentis on that day, tbey nnite in
offering thanks to Almighty God for His past
goodness and mercy, and humbly beseech
Him for ■ continuance of His blessings.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of
the State at Harrisborg, thia 21st day of
October, in the year of our Lord one thou
sand eight hundred and fifty-six, and of
the Commonwealth tbe eighty-first.
By the Cer,
ANDREW G. CURTIN,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Roses in former Times.
Among the ancients, to enjoy the scent oi
roses at meals, an abundance of rose leaves
were shaken upon the table, so that the
dishes were completely surrounded. By an
ingenious contrivance, roses, during meals,
descended npon the guests from above.—
Heliogabalus, in hi* folly, caused violets and
roses to be showered down upon his guests
in such quantities that a number of them,
being unable to extricate themselves, were
suffocated in flowers. During msaltimes
they reclined upon cushions, stuffed with
rose leaves or made a coach of the leaves
themselves. The floor, too, was strewed
with roses, and in this custom great luxury
was displayed. Cleopatra, al an enormous
expense, procured roses for a feast which
•he gave to Anthony, had them laid two cu
bit* thick on the floor of the banquet room,
and then caused nets to be spread over the
flower* in order to render the fooliog elaatic.
Heliogabalus not only caused the banquet
rooms, but also the oolonade* that led to
ibem, to be covered with rosea, interspersed
with lilliea, violet* and naroisai.
Occupation or French Women.
Did yon ever see a lady play on th* fiddle,
reader! There ia certainly no impropriety
in the employment. St. Cecelia doubtless
had a favorite Stradusrius, yet there seems
to be something indefinable, bizarre, fantas
tic, out of place, in fair hands taking np the
fiddle aod the bow. But if a feminine vio
linist be a novelty, whet would you say to a
lady csrpsnter 1 Hsre are some hundreds of
them hammering away, with tremendous
vigor end celerity. Them eyea have seen
i the grandam of eighty polishing off a plank
| with a plane to a nicety. They have seen
a trim Utile damsel of seventeen, with col
ored handkerchiefs lied ooquettishly round
her head, busily fixing beams and girders,
while a great bearded, bloused man sal ma
jestically by, smoking his pipe, or, if he eon
descended to interfere in business matters at
all, unpacking doll's houses, or dabbling
with a glus pot. What labor will not French
women undertake? They follow lbs plough,
they keep books, they open box doors, tbey
laks tickets at railways, tbey drag your lug
gage to the Custom House, they cot your
chops and beefsteaks at the butcher's, tbey
dance on the tight rope and on stilts, they
boy old clothes, they keep shooting galleries,
they enter hen's dsns, they messote you lor
boots, they shave you.
OP* We clip the following from the Provi
dence Post:
"A noted Abolition Black Republiosn ora
tor, w hose stock in trade was of tbe most
flimsy, bighfalotion order, asked vary sol
emnly of hie audience, 'and who ie John C
Fremont?' A democrat who waa listening
to the harangne, and obaervad the silence
wbioh followed, rose and replied, 'An smt
null cattle dtaltr !' whioh 'brought down the
ho use,' and the iptabrr too t"
Depopulation of Ireland—Nature's Mrtte*
rloa* Uw*.
The Commissioners appointed to take the
census of Ireland in 1851, have jast made
their final report. They give, not only a mi
nute account of the famine of 1846-7, bot
tables of at* the great reasons of scarcity and
pestilence, since the historical age pf the
world began. The total mortality, from fever
in Ireland, between the end of 1846 and '49,
ia estimated, in the report, at a mil'ion and
a half. The decline in population, between
1841 and 1851, as actually determined by
the census takera, was 1,622,739, a decrease
of 19 85 per cent.; thia falling off, the Com
mittee computes, has continaed, making the
decline at the close of 185$, not lets than
2,097,841, or one fourth of the whole popu
lation as It stood In 1841. E*er< this, how
ever, does not represent ibe full decrease,
for, if the famine had not set in, the popula
tion would have increased in its old ratio; and
if it had increased in its old ratio, the existing
population would have bean, in 1851,2,466,-
414 more than il was; snd of course, by this
time, il would have been proportionately lar
ger. If the potato disease had not appeared,
neither famine nor pestilence would have
followed, nor even emigration, at least lo the
extent il did ; and the inhabitants of Ireland,
in that event, would have probably num
bered, to-day, three million* more than tbey
do.
Tl.e report reveals to a greater extent than
any document vet published, the social and
economical change* which have taken place
in Ireland within the last tan years. These
changes, in fact, amount lo a revolution.—
The reign of Terror in France hardly Worked
more radical alteration* in the distribution of
land, the shifting of population, anJ the char
acter of agriculture, than the Irish potato-rot
of 1840. No leu than 357,134 cabins have
been destroyed in Ireland as ■ consequence
of the famine. In their rlace, however, 86,-
128 dwelling* of a bei'er kind, chiefly farm
houses, have been built; so that, notwith
standing the extirpation of to many roofs, the
people are said lo be better lodged than for
merly. Another striking change is in the
number of persons engaged In agriculture.—
These have fallen off Iwenty-fosr per cent.
Yet, in the placed this, there have been
more than one million seven hundred thou
sand acres of additional land brought under
cultivation. Cereal grains, also, are more
generally cultivated. Wage* have consid
erably increased. On the whole, the more
thercngh eye'.mu of farming which has been
introduced as a consequence of so large a
portion of Ibe soil changing hand*, and tba
substitution of improved agricultural ma
chines for rude and unskilled labor, appears
to have benefited all classes.
The famine of 1846 it another illustration
that nature works by great snd often myste
rious laws, which, not unfiequently, when
they seem cruelest, and most lobe deplored,
are really bringing forth good. Terrible as
1 the potato rot was at the lime, its remote ef
: feels have proved beneficial lo Ireland;
1 while it was not without service, indirectly,
! to the United Suite, by producing that enor
| mous emigration, which has added so much
to our population and industry, and tberelore
to our wealth. The wisest of men continu
ally fail to we these laws. Another illustra
tion forcea itself on our notice at we write.
It is within the memory of most of our read
ers, that a large and influential party, in this
country, not only opposed the war with Mex
ico, but was hostile to lb* acquisition of the
territory it brought; and even so able a man
I as Mr. Webster declared, after California wsa
annexed, that it was wholly worthies*. Yet
il is now plain that if California had never
become ours, its gold mines would still have
been undiscovered ; and if tbey had remain
ed nnknown, so would those of Australia.—
In that event the increase in the world's cur
rency, and the consequent development of
industry, which has done to much, in tbe
last eight years, for the operative as against
the capitalists, would have been indefinitely
postponed. Few ww it in 1848, not even
those who desired California, bot the war
with Mexico, in (hi* indirect way, has work
ed miracle* io elevating the masses.
DR. CARTWRIOTT'SOPINION OP MEDICINE.—
A letter to Dr. R. Thompson, of Nashville.
The medicine tanght in onr medical books
and schools of the present day is not the
good old regular science of medicine, but
a reformed science—reformed to suit the
peculiarity of a little spot on this globe of
ours, which, however much needed, to adapt
it to that little spot of earth in hyperborean
Europe, becomes rank erapiricicm when
applied to the rest of the world. Medicine,
as a science, originated in Southern and
temperate latitudes, where it arrived at great
perfection, and existed for two thousand or
more years. At length, about one and a
half or two centuries ago, the leading med
ical school was removed to Edinburgh, in
hyperborean Europe, wanting but two min
utes of being in latitude 56°. A latitude in
America where grass will not grow or wa
ter run. Look at Labrador, it has no rivers
or green fields, nothing but ice all the year
round. But in Europe, in the same latitude,
there is a little spot of earth near the sea
shore, made habitable by the motion of the
earth, from West to East, impinging over it
the warmer atmosphere of the Atlantic
Ocean. Yet the density of the air is the
same as in hyperborean Labrador. The ox
ygen drawn in at every breath, in that high
latitude, is so great and so stimulating, that
a new system of practice had to be adopted
to cure the diseases incident to the peculiar
climate of that little confined place The
now medical school located there, very wise-
[Tw® Dollars per lnw
NUMBER 42.
ly undertook the task of reforming medicine
to adapt it to that peculiar little spot of earth.
It banished the pepper family of plants, the
therlac, all heating things—all capillary
stimulants, and placed its main reliance en
the lancet, leeching, cupping, salts, anil
monials, barley water and gum arabic.—
This was all well enough for that little place
on the globe, but it went farther and im
posed the same reformed physic on the rest
of the world. Bled and leeched for every
thing, and gave antiphlogistics, and gum
water—discarding the whole class of stimu
lants—particularly theriac and capillary
stimulants—as hurtful and pernicious in the
commencement of acute diseases, and bare
ly admissible in the chronic and the last
of a capillary stimulant in aclimate that al
most forces the red blood through the skinl
Your syrup is so strong a capillary stimu
lant; it would almost set a patient in such
a climate a fire, suppose the disease to be
pneumonia—but here it will often cut short
the pneumonia, by sending the blood into
the almost bloodless capillaries in cases
which would probably die under the lancet,
gum water and antiphlogistics. Your book
is a look in the right direction, because it
leads back to the old regular practice of
Medicine, and goes against the reformed
system imported into this country originally
from Edinburgh—a system of practice al
most certain death in the apoplexies of the
South, hnrtfnl in most of the fevers met
with in Soothern climates, and very apt to
put out children's eyes in ophthalmia. I
I ttely treated a child, attacked with puru
lent ophthalmia a few days after birth, with
the lotion you advise, applied over the eyes,
and cured it promptly. This child would
have lost its eyes under leeching and the
methods observed in the popular medical
books of the day. The disease, in addition
to the means you advise, requires a change
in the nurse; good milk nourishment to
cause the bones of the head to fill out—an
essential indication which calomel, leech
ing, and lunar canstic can never fulfil. But
in apoplexy, pneumonia, and the most of
our fevers in this climate the pathological
condition of the system is like the child
with purulent ophthalmia, in which bleed
ing and antiphlogistics are is dangerous to
life as they are to the eyes in the child's
case. But your kind of practice is not a
new thing to me. I have tested the merits
of a similar practice for a third of acentnry.
It was not very long after I bagnn tho prac
tice before I found that the treatment recom
mended in Northern European books was
not adapted to Southern latitudes —Nashville
Journal of Medicine.
THE "BOSTAGE STAMP" SHAVE. —Scarcely
a newspaper can now be taken op that doos
not contain the advertisement of some 'Rev.'
or 'M. D.' who has recovered liis health by
the discovery of a wonderful remedy for
consumption or nervousness or other ailing.
Filled with gratitude for the good they have
secured ihey are benevolently affected to
wards all other sufferers, and hence they
pay large sums to inform the people that
for one, two, three or four 'postage-stamps'
they will send the recipe by return of mail.
We had not supposed It necessary to cau
tion the community against such imposters,
but it appears that the business pays well
enough to keep it up, and moreover it is now
greatly on the increase, and to our surprise
during the last month intelligent men of dif
ferent parts of the country have actually
sent us speciai retuiiUuiOdS of stamps asking
us to call upon Dr. So-and-so and Rev. So
and-so, and procure for them the elixir of
life. If intelligent persons are thus impos
ed upon, how is it with the millions of ig
norant and unwary? Of course we have
made no effort to find the advertisers. It is
exceedingly doubtful whether ihey have any
'local hibiiation,' or are to be found in any
other way than through their Post-office box.
Has not the question occurred to every
one ? If these benevolent individuals are so
anxious to do a public good, why do they
not publish to the world athonc# their im
portant discoveries, which could ba dons
without cost, instead of paying hundreds,
yes, thousands of dollars for advertising,
and making tens of thousands of dollars
expense to those " sending stamps" and
prepaying postage ?
A correspondent informs us that: "A ner
vous neighbor enclosed a stamp to one of
these 'superannuated clergymen,' and re
ceived an unpaid circular (costing the set
ter up one mill,) selling forth the virtues of
a costly preparation which would be for
warded to liim on the receipt of $1; that
impressed with the apparent hbnestv of the
'clergyman,' he sent forward the dollar, and
received in return a little Unpaid package
containing 12 homoeopathic pills of arsenlate
of potassa, costing perhaps one cent, with
direciions to take three a day, and if these
did not cure perfectly another batch would
be forwarded at tne same rate; and fhat
while one package seldom failed, two, three,
or at most five could not fail to work a per
fect cure i if the patient kid rightly described
hie condition."
Probably very few of those who "enclose
stamps" ever hear from them again.
But enough for this time; wo have more
cases on hand for futnre disposal.— American
Agriculturist.
A STRANGE PARTNERSHIP At a bell, in
Moscow, on the evening after iheootQuaijoit
ceremonies, the Empress of Rtufia danted
with the Turkish Ambassador!
V Boston has six ibousaad moss fsnaies
than males in ita population, while Chisago
has abeut fifteen thousand more males than
females. •< .1